But the head of LionShare Marketing Inc. is resigned to the fact that the outside world requires titles, so hers is CEO and president to anyone outside the company who asks.

Within the company, she likes to think of her moniker as the more freewheeling founder and chief fun-maker.

That’s what she thinks is reflected in the company’s work atmosphere, which is what makes LionShare Marketing one of the best places to work in Kansas City.

LionShare Marketing is a strategic marketing firm that specializes in market research, planning and marketing solutions.

It also specializes in fun.

“I think it’s just a fun place to work, and it’s not that we don’t work hard,” Jones said. “Everyone is committed to working, but we just want to have fun doing it.”

Not many workplaces can claim to offer free trips to its employees, but LionShare does.

This year, 2008, is an even year, which means that there’s no company trip. But in 2009, which those at LionShare Marketing call a trip year, the offices close down for a week while all the employees go to a destination that’s measured in terms of luxury by how the company finishes the year before.

In 2007, the company took a five-day trip to Mexico near Cancun.

The only rules are one guest each, no children and have a good time.

“We take five days off, close the office and go have fun,” Jones said.

The dress code in the office is one you’d expect to find in a vacation spot, as well.

But what Jones said separates her company from others in the area is that although employees work hard, she won’t overwork them to the point where spending time in the office becomes miserable.

“We turn down some jobs on occasion because we know it’s going to swamp us,” Jones said.

That’s not to say there isn’t late-night or weekend work occasionally at LionShare, but Jones said she never hears complaints about it.

“I came in on a Sunday morning one day, and there were three people working,” she said. “They never told me. I only knew it because I came in here and they were there.”

That loyalty runs both ways. Jones recently allowed an employee to work from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. because her husband had been deployed to Iraq. The schedule allowed her to care for her children in the mornings and afternoons while her husband was away.

“I know that what I’m trying to do is create a culture of work-life balance,” Jones said.

That work-life balance extends to family pets, who are welcome at LionShare’s offices in Lenexa.

The easygoing atmosphere at LionShare is integrated into the work itself.

On Thursdays, staff members retire to an early happy hour somewhere off site where they enjoy drinks and food. During those happy hours, they share what are called “yea moments,” which are examples of things going on in the workplace that are working well for the company.

Similarly, each employee goes through monthly meetings where professional and personal goals are established and followed up on, which are intended to make sure employees know that managers care about their personal lives as well.

Why go through all these extra steps?

The answer is an easy one for Jones.

“I just think we all want to enjoy what we do for those 40 hours, so everybody is pretty respectful for the next person,” Jones said.